Work holder and guide for sewing-machines



A. STEIN. HOLDER AND GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. I9 I 8.

Patented July 20, 1920.

| E.' 4 I I Z5" qm; l 20/ i 43T 43 F5523 lowing specilication and UNITEDSTATES ABRAHAM STEIN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

WORK HOLDER ANI) GUIDE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

speemcation of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Application filed February 23, 1918. Serial No. 218,684.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM STEIN, a citizen of Russia, residing atBoston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Work Holders and Guides forSewing-Machines, of which the following is:- a specification.

l fIhis invention relates to work holding and guiding means for sewingmachines.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive devicefor holding and guiding the work while it is being stitched in the sewinmachine so as to accurately locate the stitcIies at any desired distancefrom the edge of the work, thereby eliminating waste, due toVinaccuracies and to the inexperience'ofoperators, which so often resultswhen the work is manually guided through the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide means "for automaticallystopping the machine when the work is completed.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts setforth in the folparticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of portions of a sewingmachine with a workholder embodying my invention shown in connection therewith.

Fig. 2 is a detail section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

F igl 3 is a detail plan View of a modified form of holder.

. Fig. 4.is a detail section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Like numerals refer to like parts throug out the several views of thedrawings.

In the drawings, 1 isa table of any con- Venient design upon which restsa sewing machine 2 having the usual driving wheel 3 provided with agrooved pulley 4, through which power may be received from any suitablesource. In the present instance, however, a motor 5 is preferablyemployed which is connected by a belt 6 with the grooved pulley 4.

The base or work support 7 of the sewing machine is preferably groovedtransversely thereof at 8, which groove is in close proximity to andparallel with the direction of movement of the `work feeding device 9 ofthe machine, said work feeding device being of the usual well known formemployed in substantially all types of sewing machines.

Thls work feeding device coperates with a presser foot 10 adjustablymounted to move toward and away from the work support 7 to clamp orrelease the work in the usual well known manner. Arranged with- 1n thegroove 8 is a slide 11, the opposite edges thereof being dovetailed tocorrespond with the opposite sides of the groove 8 which are alsodovetailed, thus retaining said slide within the groove.

The slide 11 is preferably made long enough to receive the entire lengthofthe work whoser edges are'to be stitched and this often necessitatesthe use of a slide of considerable length, therefore it is necessary t.)provide additional supports upon opposite sides of the work support 7consisting of plates 12 and 13 which may be supported in any suitablemanner, vand these plates are preferably grooved to correspond with -thegroove 8 of said work support, thus providing a support for said slidesubstantially the greater portion of the length of said slide.

The purpose of the slide 11 being movable with the work feeding device 9is to hold the work with the edges of the two parts thereof, which areto be stitched together, parallel with the direction of movement of thework feeding means and thereby eliminate the necessity of guiding thework by hand during the stitching thereof.

To accomplish the holding of the work on said slide, a clamping deviceisprovided which preferably includes a plate 14 which extends nearly thelength of the slide 11, an'd this plate -is arranged adjacent to theedge of the slide nearest to 'the feeding \means 9. This plate 14 ispreferably mounted upon arms 15 and 16 disposed adjacent to oppositesides of the slide 11 by means of a rod 17 which extends from the arm 15to the arm 16 throughy ears 18, preferably surmounting the plate 1 4.

The arms 15 and 1 6 are pivotally connecti ed to lugs 19 and 20 on saidslide by pins 21, permitting said clamp plate 14 to move from itsposition against the work, as shown at 22, Fig. 2, upwardly into theposition enable the operator to insert the work and properly positionthe same with respect to an adjustable gage 23 at the rear of thepresser foot. Y

The plate 14 is preferably arched so as to engage the work only at itsopposite edges and by pivoting said plate it will adjust itself tovarious thicknesses of work, operat ing equally as well upon thick orthin material. It is desirable that a yielding pressure be exerted bysaid plate on the work when the same is'clamped in place and toaccomplish this'result springs 24 and 25 are secured respectively to thelugs 19 and 20, and these springs are adapted to engage their respectivelevers at points 26 which are upon the opposite'sides of the pivots ofsaid levers from said clamping plates and by exerting an upward pressureto said levers at their points the opposite ends of said levers whichbear said plate will be forced downwardly toward the work.

When the clamp plate is swung upwardly into its upright position, Fig.2, the springs 24 and 25 engage the squared ends 2'] of said levers andyieldingly maintain said levers in their upright positions. To assist inadvancing the slide 11 to engage the work, a strip of relativelyinelastic material 28 is secured to the under side of the plate 14 orpreferably to the work contacting edges of said plate, and projectsbeyond the edge of said plate and the corresponding edge of said slide11 adjacent to the work feeding means 9 and this strip is adapted toextend beneath one portion 29 of the presser foot, permit? ting saidstrip to extend substantially to the needle 30 of the machine, but notfar enough to be pierced by said needle during the operation of themachine.

This provides just enough of the inelastic material to be insertedbeneath one side of the presser foot in order that it may be fed throughthe medium of the work by one side of the feeding means 9, which issplit, as also is the presser foot, to permit the needle 30 to passtherebetween and by placing this material 28 above the work it willprevent the work from being wrinkled or drawn during the feedingthereof, due to the dragging of the slide 11.

In addition to the plate 14, a series of spurs or needle points 44, 44are arranged along the work engaging face of said holder slide betweenthe portions thereof which are engaged by the edges of said clamp plate14 so that the work which is laid upon said holder slide will be forceddownwardly against the face thereof by said plate 14 or by the inelasticmaterial 28 which stretches from one edge of said plate to the other andthus cause said points to pierce said work.

To still further assist in the movement of the slide 11 during thefeeding of the work.,

a weight 31 is preferably attached by a suitable cord or chain 32 to theforward end of the slide, and this cord preferably extends over a pulley33 to said weight 31, which is placed beneath the table 1 Anotheradvantage of this method of stitching over the hand feeding method isthat the machine may be run at a very rapid uniform rate of speed andthe stopping and starting thereof, so essential to the operation of themachine when the work is fed thereto, will be dispensed with, thusgreatly reducing the wear and tear upon the machine and also result in agreat saving of time. rl`his is possible for the reason that theoperator having once clamped the work in the machine need have nofurther thought of the same until the work has passed entirelytherethrough.

To further facilitate the operation means 'are provided forautomatically stopping the machine when the slide holding the work hasreached the end of its throw, or, in other words, when the stitching ofthe work has been completed. rlhis result is attained by providing aswitch 34 which has connected thereto wires 35 and 36, through which anelectric current is supplied to the motor 5 from any desired source, notshown in the drawings.

rlhe switch 344 is also preferably operable from thefront of the machineby -means of a rod 37, whereby the switch may be manually closed when itis desired to start the machine into operation and when the slide 11Vreaches the end of its throw the forward end thereof strikes said switchand opens Athe electric circuit, including the wires 35 and 36 of themotor 5.

rlhe device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is adapted to the stitching of theedges of the layers of material together which are placed face to faceand both clamped by the clamp plate 14 against the slide 11.

ln Figs. 3 and 4 a different type of slide is employed which is for thepurpose of stitching together two overlapping pieces of material, thusrequiring means on each side of the needle, presser foot and feedingAmeans for holding the work. This device embodies a double slide 3'8which is wide enough to support two clamping plates 14 and 14substantially identical to the clamping plate 14 shown in Figs. 1 and 2,the clamping plate 14 being on the opposite side of the presser foot 10and the work feeding means 9 and in order to support said clampingplates prop- Y plate together, are recessed at 43 so as to clear thefeed member 9 slide longitudinally.

`Having thus specifically described my invention what I claim and desireby Letters Patent to secure is:

l. A sewing machine having, in combination, a work support having agroove formed transversely thereof, work feeding means adjacent to saidgroove, a slide mounted in said groove, adapted to be movedlongitudinally thereof by said work feeding means, and a clamp membermounted `upon said slide adapted to engage the edge of the work bleiigstitched and hold said work on said s 1 e.

2. A sewing machine having, in combination, a slidable work holderadapted to secure the work at a predetermined distance from the edgethereof, work feeding means adapted to simultaneously move said work andsaid work holder, and means for autowhen moving said matically stoppingsaid machine when said work ,holder has reached a predeterminedposition.

l3. A sewing machine having, in combination, a work said work su porthaving a groove formed transversely t ereof adjacent to and parallelwith the direction of movement of said work feeding means, a slidearranged in said groove, means for securing the work to said slide witha predetermined portion thereof projecting beyond said slide and adaptedto be engaged by said work feeding means, and

means on said work securing means adapted to be moved through the mediumof the work by said work feeding means to impart movement to said slide.

4. A sewing machine having, in combination, a work support, work feedingmeans forsaid machine, a slide arranged on said .workv support adaptedto move parallel with the direction of movement of said work feedingmeans, a clamp plate on said slide adapted to engage and hold the workat a predetermined distance from the edge thereof, and a strip offlexible but relatively inelastic fabric secured to the edge of saidclamp plate, adapted to be moved through the medium of the work by saidwork feeding means to feed said slide with said work.

'ing means,

support, work feeding means work support adapted to move parallel withthe directlon of movement of said work feeda clamp plate arranged onsaid slide parallel with the direction of movement of said work feedingmeans adapted to enga e and hold the work at a predetermine distancefrom the edge thereof, a strip of relatively inelastic fabric secured tothe edge of said clampplate, adapted to be moved through the medium ofthe work by said work feeding 'means to feed said slide with said work,and a weight attached to said slide, adapted to assist said work feedingmeans in the operation of said slide.

6. A sewing machine having, in-combination, work feeding means, aslidable work holder, a series of spurs on said holder, and an archedplate adapted to engage the work on said holder on opposite sides ofsaid spurs to clamp said work on said holder.

sewing machine having, in combination, work feeding means, a slidablework holder, meansv on said holder adapted to pierce the work on saidholder and position the same thereon, means for clamping the work onsaid holder and ingly holding said work clamping means either in itsopen or clamping position.

8. A sewing machine having, in combination, work feeding means, aslidable work holder, a series of spurs on said holder, an arched plateadapted to engage the work at opposite sides of said spurs and maintainsaid work in engagement with said spurs, pivoted members on said holderand connected with said plate adapted to allow said plate to be movedrelatively to said holder from its open to a clamped position relativelyto said holder and springs constructed and arranged to engage said armsnesses.

ABRAHAM STEIN.

plate in its clamped or Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDING, SYDNEY E. TAFT.

means for yieldf

